Wednesday, May 31, 2006

My summer class - ILS506 Information Analysis and Organization - began yesterday. I was able to successfully log in, get the syllabus and read the unit 1 lecture notes. For assignments this week, we are required to email the professor to let him know that we were able to log into the class, post an introduction to the class discussion and read several items. This week's readings are Understanding MARC, the Preface to Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (2002 edition), the AARC table of contents, AARC general rules for description, chapter 1 and chapter 2 of AARC, chapter 1 from Lois Chan's Cataloging and Classification: An Introduction (2nd edition, 1994) and the introduction, p. ix-xiv, and p.3-9 from Jerry Saye's Manheimer's Cataloging and Classification (4th edition, 2000).

So far everything seems to be going fine. My biggest problem is that my copy of the Manheimer text has not arrived yet. I ordered it on May 17th - which was right after I registered for the class. Unfortunately, it did not ship until May27th - and I am now waiting not-so-patiently for it to arrive. Hopefully, I will see it by early next week. Yet again, getting textbooks is definitely the most stressful part of being in a distance education program. ARGH!!!!!

One of my favorite recent posts about the divide between IT staff and non-techies is this post from A Wandering Eyre (I forgot to mention it in yesterday’s post about techies vs non-techies). Jane’s comment that “one group starts speaking Klingon and everything goes all to hell” made me laugh so hard. Sometimes it really does seem that way. I am more often on the side of the tech support staff than the user. But even so, I am often so astounded at how quickly dialog can totally break down. I think this is so typical of interactions between IT and users. There needs to be greater understanding on both sides of this divide and some common ground.

As for the whole “have you tried rebooting” question. It certainly is frustrating. Even when I have to call tech support from one of our many vendors, this is always the first question - despite the fact that the number I am calling is supposed to be for 2nd or 3rd tier support. I think this is just related to fact that quite often, 6 or 7 reboots will make one’s computer happier. Just keep shutting the sucker off and on until it works!!

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

A post at LibrarianInBlack today, pointed me to a blog article by David Lee King discussing communication issues between Techies and Non-Techies. This is a subject that I grapple with on a daily basis. As such, I was incredibly interested in reading through all of the different articles and posts - and spent quite a bit of time doing so. One of my favorites was a link to an article entitled How to help someone use a computer by Phil Agre. This article has some great tips about helping people use computers that I think all techies should review often in order to maintain a good relationship with users. Being a techie (and a user) can be difficult - and there is a definite divide between those who understand computers and technology and those who do not. As the primary means of technical support for staff in my library, I am often painfully aware of this technological divide. I have worked hard - very hard to try and bridge that divide.

I think that this divide is the result of a natural tension between technical people and those users they support. Techies have a responsibility to maintain equipment, keep it running smoothly, minimize down time and maintain good security. And they need to do this in spite of users. For many IT people, this makes users a large part of the problem in maintaining equipment. Spyware, viruses and many other problems make maintaining desktops a tricky and difficult task. Users often mistakenly install spyware, open viruses, keep their passwords under their mouse pads and commit many other IT "sins." As a result, many techs feel as if the end user is the greatest threat to security and to computers. However, it is vitally important to note that without users there would be no need for technical support. I constantly remind myself that just because I can spot a virus-infected email and because I can remove spyware myself doesn't mean that this is common knowledge. I am expected to know these things in order to help my coworkers. It is important that users be able to spot viruses attachments and understand about spyware. But, it is my responsibility to give them that knowledge. If we have problems with these things, I can't think of it as a problem with users. There is something else going on - and I need to find a positive way to deal with the situation that empowers users rather than denigrates them. Phil Agre's article has some great tips to help with this.

One of the bizarre things about being a library tech is that I am often on both sides of this natural divide between techs and non-techs. In the library, I am without a doubt The Tech. However, this wasn't always the way that people in the college's IT department saw it. To them, I was another user - one with more requests and more problems than other users. They often did not respect the amount of technology nor the importance of the systems in the library. It took me a long time to convince the IT staff that I had decent technical knowledge, that I knew what I was talking about and that I alleviate some of their burden. I still have to remind them about how firewall changes, network changes etc. will affect our systems. I now regularly attend all IT meetings - and I even think that many of the guys think of me as an honorary IT member. It was a long hard battle to get to this point but I think that this battle has helped me understand the position of the end user a little bit better.

In the meantime, I think that I will put a copy of Phil Agre's article on my bulletin board. I think reading it repeatedly could be a good thing - and help to make me a better tech support person.

Monday, May 29, 2006

I have thoroughly enjoyed the last several weeks without any school work. My summer class, ILS506 - Information Analysis and Organization, starts tomorrow. I plan to enjoy the rest of the day - and hopefully, I will be ready to start work again tomorrow!!!

All in all, taking classes has been a fairly easy experience. I've had very little trouble registering for classes, taking the classes via WebCT, submitting work online, etc. Additonally, I have been suprised at the lack of technical difficulties. One thing that I did not anticipate having trouble with was getting the textbooks. I had assumed that this would be one of the easiest parts of the entire process - with so many ways to purchase books online. However, textbook lists are not always published far in advance - and sometimes they are never listed. Other items also play a part. For this summer session, I registered for a class. I waited for a long time to order the books, because I suspected that there was a possibility that the class would be cancelled. But, I did order the books. Then, the class was cancelled. I registered for another class. The books for the second class were not listed in book lists on the bookstore's web site nor were they listed on the ILS department's web site. I had to try and track down the books from other sources. At this point, one of the books is available at the library where I work, another one I was able to borrow from a library colleague and the third is still in the mail. I hope that it arrives soon given that classes start tomorrow - although I have been told that it may take two weeks (ARGH!!).

So far book issues have been without a doubt the most frustrating problem associated with getting a degree online. I hope that professors can become more sensitive to this issue in the future. Recently, one student in the online program from Europe recently sent an email appeal to people in the library program asking about textbooks for a class in the fall. Usually, it can take between 6-8 weeks to get textbooks delivered to this student's location. I thought my trials with books were frustrating, but they can't be anything in comparison. I certainly hope that people take notice of this issue. Understandably, it takes time for faculty to prepare their courses and to make textbooks selections. However, in an online program, these tasks need to take place at a fairly accerlerated pace as compared to these task in a traditional program.

Recently, Thomas Dowling posted a thought provoking piece entitled Forcing Users to Learn the Catalog on the TechEssence blog. There are some good comments on the post too. When attempting to overhaul library services, library web pages, web opacs, etc., the concern about "dumbing down the catalog" is always raised - and is a pretty big concern for people working in libraries. I don't think that those who raise these concerns are unaware of or even unsympathetic to the current limitations inherent to library search mechanisms. Neither do I think they want to prevent users from finding information. However, whenever library employees try to openly discuss how to solve such large problems with the usability of their systems, I think they get bogged down by their own knowledge and familiarity of the systems (I know I often do). I have no problem finding what I need from library sites, search engines, catalogs, etc. It is perfectly clear to me how to find a full text article from a citation or how to locate a book. So, it almost automatically seems as if I would have to dumb down my library's search mechanisms if the users don't currently understand them or use them correctly. I have to remind myself that I am not an average patron - not even close and neither are any of the other people who work in the library. We are NOT our intended audience. So, how then do I remove myself and my knowledge base from the equation? Ultimately, I understand the absolute need to get feedback from actual users. But I think that those of us to design, create or tweak our library systems need to truly understand what our users frustrations are.

Often people suggest that our catalogs or other search mechanisms ought to be more like Google, Amazon or even Ebay. The reason behind this argument seems to be that patrons use these tools - and often in place of library tools. While I can understand this argument, Google, Amazon, etc are not the same things are library catalogs. Library collections are extensive, varied and often confusing to the end user. How do we combine our very different resources (books, movies, full-text journal articles online, paper items, reserve lists, archival collections, etc) so that a user can search them all at once and retrieve only pertinent information? I'm not sure there is an easy solution. I know that in my library we are a long way off from being close to this point.

So, in the meantime, yes we force users to learn the catalog. We work hard to provide good aids and tips for users. Some patrons find it easier to use than others, some ask for help, some do get frustrated and walk away, but our catalog does get used. And usage statistics are up. Students borrow books, place holds, book study rooms, use our proxy server for off campus links and they search (mostly by subject). So, ultimately, library catalogs need to be better, more intuitive and easier to understand - and I think these debates are a step in the right direction. I have noticed that new services often provide an impetus for patrons to use other services offered by our catalog. Use of our proxy server has really made many students more aware of our catalog and of library services - and I often think that is three-quarters of the battle.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

I got my grade for my term project for ILS504 - Reference & Information Resources & Services this morning. I'm glad to say that I passed. I worked hard on this project to design a bibliographic instruction session for college upper classmen doing statistical research using government document census materials. I designed a class and created a web-based pathfinder for the students in the class. So, I was happy to find that this project got the highest grade of all of my work in this class this semester. I put way more work into this project than any of the other assignments, so I shouldn't be too surprised. Now, I just have to wait until June 5th to get my actual grade for the semester. (This seems to be a long time to wait for grades, but I haven't been in school in a while so maybe not).

Monday, May 22, 2006

Over the past several months, I have gotten fairly comfortable with all of the features that Blogger has to offer. I've been pretty happy with its capabilities. However, one thing that I think is extremely important is the ability to categorize blog posts. I think this becomes especially important as the number of posts grows. How do you find earlier posts efficiently? Additionally, since I want to use this blog to document my coursework, I need a way to point my professors to all of the posts about a specific class, project, etc. I doubt professors want to wade through my blog posts to find relevant posts that document/annotate my class work.

Because this category feature is necessary to me, I decided to create a new blog using WordPress. I've spent the past week or so migrating all of my blog posts to the new blog, categorizing my posts and playing around with the capabilities that WordPress has to offer. For now, I plan to maintain both blogs. Part of the reason that I created this blog was to learn about blogging. As such, I'm interested in watching both blogs - seeing how they are the same, how they are different, etc. Again, doing is the best way to become familiar with new technologies and their capabilities. Admittedly, this is probably a lot of work - and I will probably grow tired of it eventually.

In one of the first posts that I wrote for this blog, I voiced some of my thoughts about blogs - especially library blogs. I can honestly say that I am still addicted to reading blogs - and it is one of the first things that I do every day. Blogs have become the primary means by which I keep up with developments in the land of libraries. I have become even more fascinated with the development of certain blog issues. It is remarkable to watch the way that certain topics make the rounds of library blogs - and often develop lives of their own. The whole debate/arguments surrounding Web 2.0/Library 2.0 is a prime example.

Add to all of this the recent debates over technical difficulties with ALA's Library 2.0 boot camp and I can't stop checking to see if there are any new posts. I get as caught up in these debates as people do in their favorite tv shows. Recently, I sadly realized that sometimes I'm caught up more in the personal aspect of these debates (who says what about whom, who responds to whose post, who is apologizing to whom, etc) than I do in the actual content. Many of the debates that take place in the library blog world are incredibly important and necessary. However, some of the commentaries get quite personal and every once in a while they are a bit offensive in tone. When this happens, it is hard for me to filter out personal biases to get at the message the blogger is trying to convey.

Ultimately, this makes me question the nature of blogs as a source for professional information. Blogs are inherently personal venues for people to post their thoughts and opinions. When people start posting comments about topics relating to their profession, I think lines start to blur between professional and personal behaviors. Sometimes this may not be a good thing. I don't this this is specifically a problem inherent to blogs. This is a trend that has been growing for several years. Listserv email debates become remarkly unprofessional in a short amount of time. Heaven forbid that someone send an unsubscribe message to the listserv address. Despite the fact that this annoys me as much as anyone else, rudeness should be inexcusable in a professional environment.

This has been a topic that has troubled me since I started this blog back in September 2005. During the summer of 2005, a colleague at work asked me about RSS feeds, XML and blogs. She had noticed more and more RSS feeds and wondered what they were. As the primary technical support person in the library where I work, it falls to me to provide answers about new technologies. In trying to come up with a cogent answer for my colleague, I started reading library blogs, researching wikis and social software and gatherning information that could be useful in the library. As always with new technologies, I find doing the best way of learning. As such, I thought that actually creating a blog would be the best way to discover what one can do with them and how one can use them. Since I had decided to apply to graduate school for a masters in library science, it struck me that blog dedicated to that endeavor would be appropriate.

Personally, I didn't feel comfortable with creating a blog for work because the college where I work did not (and still doesn't) have a blogging policy nor do they have blogging software. Additionally, I am very aware of the fact that what I write on this blog is public. To me, it made sense to stay as far away from specific work issues as possible. To this end, I try to be deliberately vague about where I work. On the other hand, I think it best to be upfront about what I do because that certainly affects my perspective on technology, libraries and my mls program (to reiterate, I am a systems librarian sans mls). I guess this is why I have trouble wrapping my head around what I should be able to write about versus what I shouldn't write about. This is why I haven't commented about things like Library 2.0, etc. Of course, that doesn't mean that these issues are not important for mls students. It just means that I haven't resolved my conflicting thoughts about what is or isn't appropriate upon which to comment - in light of my professional life versus my personal one.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

I received a phone call yesterday afternoon that the summer class I had registered for (ILS656 - Information Architecture) had been cancelled due to low enrollment. Wicked bummer!! I was so looking forward to this class. I knew that this was likely to happen given that there were only 4 students listed as enrolled, but am still bummed out. I am also a little annoyed because I already bought the book. I do plan to take the class as soon as it is offered again - and hopefully the book will be the same. Hope springs eternal!!!

Anyway, I was glad that I got a phone call before the class was removed from the school's online system. This way I was able to drop the cancelled class and add another one. Fortunately, the school added a section of ILS506 - Information Analysis and Organization. I guess it will be good to take the last of the 4 required core courses. Now, I have to go find the books for this class and get them as soon as possible.

Friday, May 12, 2006

With three online classes completed, I'm starting to form some definite opinions about online education. Interestingly enough, the three classes that I have taken have varied drastically in terms of format, professor, discussion, assignments and most importantly quality. I have to admit that in addition to taking these classes and completing the coursework, I am also watching (and experiencing) the classes from a distance while trying to take in the entire experience. I watch everything that my classmates and professors do, read everything and pay particular attention to everyone's participation.

What is very interesting about the three classes that I have taken is that they have all been very different. From my perspective, one of the classes was great, one was good and one was very unsatisfying. In all honesty, the biggest factor in how I rate the quality of these classes is directly related to the professor and his/her participation in the class and the quality of his/her feedback. For me, I think the professor participation in an online class can make or break the entire experience. There is very little about a class with a posted syllabus, posted assignments, minimal discussion and limited professor interaction to inspire me to really learn the material - despite how relevant the course readings and posted lectures may or may not be. In the best class that I have taken so far, most material presented was material with which I was already familiar. Despite this fact, the professor chose provocative readings that allowed the students to have rich and fruitful discussions. The professor also participated in these discussions - although was careful not to dominate. The professor created assignments that challenged students to work at their own levels. We were able to choose from a variety of assignments for our final project - depending on our own individual skill set. Despite being very familar with most concepts presented in the class, I felt challenged by the class and came away from the class feeling as if my time had been well spent (and as if my money had been wisely spent).

In the other two classes, the professors were much less active in the learning process. One professor stated in an email that the discussions would be entirely left up to the students in the class. The professor felt as if their participation might inhibit the discussions. While the professor kept in touch through general emails, I wished there had been greater interaction. While I understand the belief that a faculty member might inhibit or dominate a discussion, we as students are in the class to learn from the professor. I honestly think that the professor should have valuable insights - and I for one think it is important that they share this information. What is interesting to me, is that the course material for this class was incredible. I really learned a great deal of important information in this class. However, I do think that if the professor had been more involved, I would have been more invested in the actual class. When a professor is more distant, it is easier to slack off and allow oneself to become disassociated.

In my least favorite course, there was almost no participation - and very little feedback from the professor. The course material was excellent. The text book was fabulous and the assignments were structured to teach students how to use important resources. However, there were virtually no discussion questions which meant there was very little interaction amongst the students. Additionally, there was virtually no feedback on assignments other than a posted grade. The professor simply assigned a grade. This is in stark contrast to the professor who taught my favorite class. This professor would put the text of our assignments in an email with comments throughout them. I found this to be extremely helpful. Unfortunately, in this last class, I often felt as if I was working on my own.

I think that in an online environment, professor participation and frequent and detailed feedback are essential. Online classes are different and they cannot be effectively taught in the same manner as a traditional one. Without face to face interaction, professors need to find different ways to engage the students. I only felt truly engaged in one of the three classes that I have taken. This is how I learn best and how I want to learn. I do not want to sleep walk through my MLS program. I am here to learn. I want to spend my time doing valuable work which contributes to my overall education. The issue of feedback is also critical. Feedback is the only way to gauage how one is doing in the class. In one class, the assignments were not graded in a timely manner. Our first assignment grades were delivered on the same day that the second assignment was due. This made me very nervous about how I was doing. I deliberately did not want to turn in the second assignment until I had the first's grade. As it turned out, there was no feedback - simply a grade. This did not make me want to work harder on my subsequent assignments.

Overall, I am thoroughly enjoying the experience of my online education (I am enjoying some classes more than other). I am looking forward to my next class - with yet another professor. It will be, I'm sure, a very different experience.

My ILS503 - Foundations of Librarianship - professor sent me an email last night with my final grade and I passed. She was very complimentary about the final project (pathfinder for Portuguese language materials) that one of my classmates and I completed - which made me very happy. I so enjoyed the project, and I really think that it helped to open my eyes to the diverse needs of patrons in public libraries. I have become very used to thinking of library patrons as 18-22 year old undergraduates.

All in all, this was a good class. I'm very happy with both assignments that I completed for this class (the pathfinder and the Robert S. Taylor biography) and feel as if I learned quite a bit. Now, I'm just going to enjoy the down time before summer session starts at the end of May.